"On a Night Like This" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, taken from her seventh studio album Light Years. It was released on 11 September 2000 as the second single from the album. The album version is slightly shorter than the music video version. The song was written by Steve Torch, Graham Stack, Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling and produced by Stack and Taylor. Musically, "On a Night Like This" is a dance-pop song, with elements of nu-disco and pop while the lyrics are about a girl who wants to share her night with a boy on a specific night together.

The song received positive reviews from music critics, who felt it was a highlight from the album and potentially single-worthy. The accompanying music video was a concept based on the 1995 crime film Casino. The song charted at one and two on the Australian Singles Chart and UK Singles Chart and fared moderately worldwide.

In 1998, Minogue's contract with Deconstruction had ended, due in part to the relatively unsuccessful commercial turnout of the album Impossible Princess. The last single from that album "Cowboy Style" was released only in Australia by Mushroom Records to coincide with the Intimate and Live Tour. By 1999, Kylie Minogue had signed herself to the label Parlophone. She began recording songs for her seventh album Light Years, most notably the lead single "Spinning Around", which became a number one hit and was considered her 'comeback' single.

On 24 February 2012, Minogue premiered a video of her performing the song on her YouTube channel.[2] It was then revealed that Minogue would be recording a compilation album for her K25 anniversary, which is an anniversary of her music career for spanning twenty-five years. The album, along with the song was recorded in London, England at Abbey Road Studios in November 2011.[3] On 24 October, she released The Abbey Road Sessions which included the reworked version of "On a Night Like This". Produced by Steve Anderson and Colin Elliot, the song was re-released as a single on 17 December 2012.[4][5]

Originally, the recording was first recorded by Swedish recording artist and radio hot Pandora. The song was featured on her studio album No Regrets and was released in 1999.[6] However, after Minogue's version was released, the song was commercially released in her native Sweden as a single.[7] Then in 2000, Greek singer Anna Vissi covered the song and was featured on her studio album, Everything I Am but was not served as a single. She performed the song live.[8] Then in mid 2000, the song was introduced to Minogue and hoped to record it. The original recorded version was written by Steve Torch, Graham Stack, Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling, and was produced by Mark Taylor from Metro and Graham Stack.[9] It was released on 11 September 2000 as the second single by Parlophone.

Musically, "On a Night Like This" is composed as a dance-pop song. According to the published music sheet at Musicnotes.com, which is owned by Fintage Music Publishing, the song is set in the key C minor.[10] The song is moderately paced with 130 beats per minute.[10] According to musicnotes.com, the song's musical styles include adult contemporary, dance music, eurodance, Europop and pop rock.[10]Pandora Radio describes the song as featuring house and nu-disco influences, dancable grooves, acoustic guitar riffs, a prominent use of synthesizers and other vocal harmonies.

For the re-released version, the song is composed as an orchestral song. According to Kitty Empire from The Guardian, the song "transforms the teenage-crush fervour of the original into a cool, big-band seduction."[11] Scott Kara from New Zealand Herald called it a sweeping and grand serenade song.[12] Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club described the version as "romantic" while stating it turns into a brassy R&B torch song thanks to a soaring gospel choir and dramatic strings.[13]

"On a Night Like This" received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Mark Edwards from Stylus Magazine said that it, along with her duet with Robbie Williams on Kids, "cemented her comeback, and then came the aforementioned mega-song."[14] Jason Shawahn from About.com gave it a positive review, saying that it, along with "Please Stay" and "Spinning Around", are "a blessing for domestic music consumers".[15] Scott Kara from New Zealand Herald described the original "a swirling, late night club pop tune."[12] Matt James from Popmatters described the song as "bedroom-eyed" and "nightclubber", while stating it's still hot enough to melt large glaciers.[16]

The version from the Abbey Road Sessions was positive as well. Robert Corpsey from Digital Spy highlighted the song as an album standout, enjoying that the lyric content stood out.[17] Philip Matusavage from MusicOMH found it a "confident" highlight and "transforming the fairly-anonymous Europop of the original into a swaggering big band number which no contestant on [The X Factor] could pull off."[18]

Although Allmusic highlighted it as an album track, it gave it a mixed review, giving it two-and-a-half stars out of five. Nick Levine from Digital Spy said that the song is a "catchy dance-pop song". One NME reviewer compared it to Spiller's song "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", writing that the song "works because it doesn't revolve awkwardly round a random disco beat".[19] Another NME reviewer described the song as lacking passion and "unremarkable".[20]PopMatters gave the album a positive review, but he was disappointed by the record label, and the public, for not releasing the single in the United States, commenting "“On a Night Like This”, a track that is meant to go right to number one on the Billboard Club Tracks list and while being completely ignored by the general public."[21]

In Minogue's native Australia the single debuted at number one, and spent two non-consecutive weeks there. It spent a total of seventeen weeks in the top fifty, becoming one of Minogue's longest charting singles. As with her previous number one single "Spinning Around", "On a Night Like This" was also certified platinum and became the twenty-seventh most successful single of the year 2000 in Australia.[22] The song led to Minogue being honoured as the artist having the most singles debuting at number one.[23] It also gave her a record for having the largest fall from the number one position—falling to number five. It was also successful in the United Kingdom where it peaked at number two, behind Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)".

It revived to have modest success elsewhere. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number forty, until rising to thirty-five where it peaked. The song then debuted at number thirty-three in Sweden, until it rose to thirty-one, staying there for two consecutive weeks.[24] The song became less successful in other countries. The song survived only one week in Finland, debuting at number twenty. The song also only peaked at number sixty-nine in France and sixty-four in the Netherlands. It sold 170,000 in UK.[25]

The video starts with a mob-related scene, with the men speaking in French. The video translates with subtitles "Matters are not handled in this way/Here in Monte Carlo/Things are closely watched/The authorities are extremely vigilant/The things you ask of us/Are not so easy". As the song starts, Minogue is on a diving board over a pool; she jumps in with while wearing an expensive Versace. After she sings the chorus, she undresses into her underwear, and looking at the mobsters, throws her dress across towards their window. As the second verse starts, she appears in another Versace costume, with expensive diamond jewellery, in a Limousine.

As the chorus arrives, she appears in a Monte Carlo casino, and wins money. She later goes home, where her mob boss lover sees her, as she comes into the hallway and smashes a green glass vase. As the song ends she steps onto a porch, undresses again, and he can only stare. The video ends with her stepping down from the porch, and fades to black.

The song was first released by the Swedish artist Pandora in late 1999. It was included on her album No Regrets. Pandora claims that the song was written during her recording sessions in the studio.[27] Months after her release, she began to receive fan mail inquiring about other versions.[27] Under different contracts with the writers, the song was given to two other singers, Anna Vissi and Kylie Minogue.[27] In December 2007, Pandora released three new remixes of the song.

The song was released by Greek singer Anna Vissi in early 2000. It was included on her debut English album Everything I Am, which featured additional songs by Stack and Taylor. Vissi performed "On a Night Like This" at the Miss Universe 2000 pageant held in Nicosia, Cyprus on 12 May 2000, watched by a worldwide audience.